Published: Wednesday, August 21, 2013 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Tuesday, August 20, 2013 at 11:14 p.m.

A recent move by the city of Hendersonville to create a level playing field at Berkeley Park, raise fees and open the dugout to other teams has a local league crying foul.

Henderson County Babe Ruth Baseball President Donnie Noble said that after the league invested $2,000 worth of labor to fix up the field, he signed a contract that gave them "exclusive rights" to it through the end of October. Last week, however, he said the city rented home plate out from under them to a traveling team in need of practice space.

City officials said they never received the April-October contract Noble said he signed, and that exclusive rights can no longer be given as a matter of fairness since Berkeley is a public park.

Noble has a copy of the contract, which he said he signed and emailed April 25 to an administrative aide in the city's Public Works department, a month before the city's new manager came on board. But the copy Noble has was not signed by Public Works Director Tom Wooten, who says he never received it.

City Manager John Connet said the department requested a game schedule from Noble, but never received one. The department also never received any rental fees for the league's spring or fall seasons this year.

"The fall season hasn't even started," Noble said, adding that they can't schedule games until they know what teams they will have. "As for the fees, I was told by Tom Wooten and (city Councilman) Jerry Smith that as long as I put back into the field, there would be no fees charged."

The contract he signed to use Berkeley Field did not mention a pre-scheduling requirement, but did say "$2,000 has been paid to the city in advance for use of the facilities."

The language of any future deal will be penned under the guidance of a new city policy voted in by City Council on Aug. 1.

A payment of fees, a team roster and a list of scheduled games are now required to reserve the field. The policy also upped the rate of $10 per player for season dues to $20 per player. Noble predicts that will put a hardship on some families whose kids have often been able to play for less.

Kimberly-Clark Corp. had given the team free rights to the sporting venue for years. In June 2008, the company donated the park to the city. Both the city and the league looked ahead to a veritable "field of dreams" with a new dugout, batting cage and sod under the glow of new lights, nestled in a 59.59-acre destination park.

‘Put me in, coach'

"Earlier this year, I met with the city of Hendersonville concerning improvements at Berkeley Field due to safety concerns," Noble said. "We had a work day at Berkeley and removed multiple wheelbarrow loads of concrete blocks, rocks, metal and glass from the infield."

He said the league also added rock dust to the warning track, rebuilt the mound and home plate and removed some of the sod that was "deteriorating." They did it with 80 hours of paid labor and more than 100 hours of volunteer help, he said. It added up to a $2,000 investment by his calculations.

The city spent $48,340 on other improvements to the Berkeley diamond, reseeding the grass infield, installing irrigation, fixing the field lights, replacing the dugout and stadium roof and installing dirt for a new batting cage. Most of the work wrapped up in April.

Noble said the league agreed to buy a batting cage for the park. Now those plans are on hold.

The six-month contract Noble has says it's effective through the month of October. It grants the league "the exclusive right to utilize the baseball field at Berkeley Park together with attendant facilities, including concessions building."

Renting an unlimited right to the field, Noble said he did not foresee any competition for its use until the end of the contract. With another team now using the diamond Wednesday through Friday, he said the league is scrambling to come up with a new game calendar.

For the first time in its 63 years using the historic Berkeley Field, the league has looked at the option of other venues. Babe Ruth Baseball now has 13 to 15 teams that "need a place to play this fall," Noble said, adding that he doubts the stadium can support two programs at the same time.

"I think somebody's made a mistake and offered the field when they shouldn't have," Noble said.

But Connet said that even though the league has had exclusive rights to the field in the past, it has still been used concurrently by other teams without issue. Now, in an effort of fairness, "the mission of the park has changed," he said. "We can't give anybody exclusive use because it's a public park."

A Charlotte land planning firm, Wirth & Associates, presented a $5.5 million master plan for the park to Hendersonville City Council at its April meeting.

Council agreed on a list of priorities, later nixing a plan for an amphitheater, to get the ball rolling on a $6 million bond the city hopes to pass in a November referendum to cover the costs of improvements.

The bond referendum, if approved by voters, would kickstart a 3-cent rise in taxes next July to cover the bond's debt and would help the city renovate the park in three years instead of 10 to 12.

Connet said he has asked Noble for an itemized list of his expenses.

"Once I receive this itemized list, I will place Mr. Noble's request on the City Council agenda for their consideration," he said, adding the city "will be glad to work with him."

He still had yet to hear from Noble on Tuesday and was unsure of what his ultimate request to council might be. "We'll welcome any kind of dialogue," Connet said.

"The city of Hendersonville will try and continue to resolve this matter with Mr. Noble and his group. However, we are working to make Berkeley Mills Park a destination park for our city and there will be many groups who want to use these facilities," he added. "We hope everyone will understand that we will have to put policies in place that will allow everyone access to this public facility in a manner that provides for a safe, viable baseball complex and provides the revenue to perform the day to day maintenance of the facility."

The public school system does not offer middle school baseball, but Babe Ruth coach Rob Parille and Councilman Smith started the Henderson County Middle School Baseball League nine years ago. Although the league took a "seventh-inning stretch" for a couple of years, Parille said they were able to bring it back last year.

The middle school league consists of teams from the four county schools and, along with playing each other, the teams face Veritas Christian Academy and homeschool teams.

<p>A recent move by the city of Hendersonville to create a level playing field at Berkeley Park, raise fees and open the dugout to other teams has a local league crying foul.</p><p>Henderson County Babe Ruth Baseball President Donnie Noble said that after the league invested $2,000 worth of labor to fix up the field, he signed a contract that gave them "exclusive rights" to it through the end of October. Last week, however, he said the city rented home plate out from under them to a traveling team in need of practice space. </p><p>City officials said they never received the April-October contract Noble said he signed, and that exclusive rights can no longer be given as a matter of fairness since Berkeley is a public park. </p><p>Noble has a copy of the contract, which he said he signed and emailed April 25 to an administrative aide in the city's Public Works department, a month before the city's new manager came on board. But the copy Noble has was not signed by Public Works Director Tom Wooten, who says he never received it.</p><p>City Manager John Connet said the department requested a game schedule from Noble, but never received one. The department also never received any rental fees for the league's spring or fall seasons this year. </p><p>"The fall season hasn't even started," Noble said, adding that they can't schedule games until they know what teams they will have. "As for the fees, I was told by Tom Wooten and (city Councilman) Jerry Smith that as long as I put back into the field, there would be no fees charged."</p><p>The contract he signed to use Berkeley Field did not mention a pre-scheduling requirement, but did say "$2,000 has been paid to the city in advance for use of the facilities."</p><p>The language of any future deal will be penned under the guidance of a new city policy voted in by City Council on Aug. 1.</p><p>A payment of fees, a team roster and a list of scheduled games are now required to reserve the field. The policy also upped the rate of $10 per player for season dues to $20 per player. Noble predicts that will put a hardship on some families whose kids have often been able to play for less.</p><p>Kimberly-Clark Corp. had given the team free rights to the sporting venue for years. In June 2008, the company donated the park to the city. Both the city and the league looked ahead to a veritable "field of dreams" with a new dugout, batting cage and sod under the glow of new lights, nestled in a 59.59-acre destination park. </p><p>'Put me in, coach'</p><p>"Earlier this year, I met with the city of Hendersonville concerning improvements at Berkeley Field due to safety concerns," Noble said. "We had a work day at Berkeley and removed multiple wheelbarrow loads of concrete blocks, rocks, metal and glass from the infield."</p><p>He said the league also added rock dust to the warning track, rebuilt the mound and home plate and removed some of the sod that was "deteriorating." They did it with 80 hours of paid labor and more than 100 hours of volunteer help, he said. It added up to a $2,000 investment by his calculations.</p><p>The city spent $48,340 on other improvements to the Berkeley diamond, reseeding the grass infield, installing irrigation, fixing the field lights, replacing the dugout and stadium roof and installing dirt for a new batting cage. Most of the work wrapped up in April.</p><p>Noble said the league agreed to buy a batting cage for the park. Now those plans are on hold. </p><p>The six-month contract Noble has says it's effective through the month of October. It grants the league "the exclusive right to utilize the baseball field at Berkeley Park together with attendant facilities, including concessions building."</p><p>Renting an unlimited right to the field, Noble said he did not foresee any competition for its use until the end of the contract. With another team now using the diamond Wednesday through Friday, he said the league is scrambling to come up with a new game calendar. </p><p>For the first time in its 63 years using the historic Berkeley Field, the league has looked at the option of other venues. Babe Ruth Baseball now has 13 to 15 teams that "need a place to play this fall," Noble said, adding that he doubts the stadium can support two programs at the same time.</p><p>"I think somebody's made a mistake and offered the field when they shouldn't have," Noble said.</p><p>But Connet said that even though the league has had exclusive rights to the field in the past, it has still been used concurrently by other teams without issue. Now, in an effort of fairness, "the mission of the park has changed," he said. "We can't give anybody exclusive use because it's a public park." </p><p>A Charlotte land planning firm, Wirth & Associates, presented a $5.5 million master plan for the park to Hendersonville City Council at its April meeting.</p><p>Council agreed on a list of priorities, later nixing a plan for an amphitheater, to get the ball rolling on a $6 million bond the city hopes to pass in a November referendum to cover the costs of improvements. </p><p>The bond referendum, if approved by voters, would kickstart a 3-cent rise in taxes next July to cover the bond's debt and would help the city renovate the park in three years instead of 10 to 12.</p><p>Connet said he has asked Noble for an itemized list of his expenses. </p><p>"Once I receive this itemized list, I will place Mr. Noble's request on the City Council agenda for their consideration," he said, adding the city "will be glad to work with him." </p><p>He still had yet to hear from Noble on Tuesday and was unsure of what his ultimate request to council might be. "We'll welcome any kind of dialogue," Connet said.</p><p>"The city of Hendersonville will try and continue to resolve this matter with Mr. Noble and his group. However, we are working to make Berkeley Mills Park a destination park for our city and there will be many groups who want to use these facilities," he added. "We hope everyone will understand that we will have to put policies in place that will allow everyone access to this public facility in a manner that provides for a safe, viable baseball complex and provides the revenue to perform the day to day maintenance of the facility."</p><p>The public school system does not offer middle school baseball, but Babe Ruth coach Rob Parille and Councilman Smith started the Henderson County Middle School Baseball League nine years ago. Although the league took a "seventh-inning stretch" for a couple of years, Parille said they were able to bring it back last year. </p><p>The middle school league consists of teams from the four county schools and, along with playing each other, the teams face Veritas Christian Academy and homeschool teams. </p><p>Reach Weaver at emily.weaver@blueridgenow.com or 828-694-7867.</p>